building salvation

yay! re-use hawaii, a non-profit which a friend recently co-founded as a way to bring sustainable deconstruction to the islands has been getting some much deserved buzz lately. it just may be the first organization of its kind in hawaii offering a much needed alternative to sending vast amounts of construction waste to hawaii's ever shrinking landfills.

if you're not familiar with the process, after a site inspection, the re-use hawaii team breaks down a structure in a way that allows as much of the building materials as possible to be reused or recycled. salvaged materials can be purchased by the public at a fraction of the cost of buying virgin products thus reducing the impact of projects made from secondhand lumber, etc. by conserving energy and natural resources.

[after all, trees don't magically transform themselves into 2x4's. it takes a significant amount of manpower and machines (and lots of water and energy) to get it from the forest to your neighborhood home center.]

of course, not everyone has a building waiting to be deconstructed but re-use hawaii is definitely a
resource that should be on the radar of all island architects, contractors & designers for future clients concerned about the impact their projects will have on the local environment. and, if a different kind of green makes your world go round, you will be happy to know that donated materials are also eligible for a tax deduction.

take a peek behind the scenes via the rh project gallery.

Comments

[selina]

hey!! thanks for spreading the good word about reuse! love, selina